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The 2019 Phillips 66 US National Championships begin Wednesday with plenty of intriguing storylines to make for an action-packed week at Stanford.
Some of the swimmers from the world championships will participate in nationals, including Caeleb Dressel, Olivia Smoliga, Hali Flickinger, Mallory Comerford, Kelsi Dahlia, Allison Schmitt and Abbey Weitzeil, among others. Will their taper continue, or will the meet seem more like a victory lap?
Will some old faces like top-seeded Breeja Larson return to their winning ways?
Here are a few of the intriguing storylines to follow at the 2019 Phillips 66 US National Championships:
1. Ryan Lochte’s return
Ryan Lochte will make his return to competitive swimming at the U.S. national championships. He has been away from swimming serving a suspension from USADA for receiving “an intravenous infusion of permitted substances at an infusion clinic in a volume greater than 100 mL in a 12-hour period without a Therapeutic Use Exemption (TUE).” While the IV he received did not contain any banned substances, athletes are not supposed to receive any IV unless they have been hospitalized or have filed for a TUE. Despite being suspended, Lochte has continued to train in Florida. He is slated to swim a total of six events when he arrives in California, including the 100 free, 200 free, 100 fly, 100 back, 200 IM and 400 IM.
2. Dana Vollmer’s last race
Seven-time Olympic medalist Dana Vollmer announced her retirement from swimming, following nationals. She is one of the legends of swimming. At just 12 years of age, Vollmer began her quest for Olympic success as the youngest swimmer to compete in the 2000 Olympic trials. Today, the butterfly specialist is a 5x Olympic gold medalist, and has broken and set world records at the games in both Athens and London. Dana is the first woman in history to ever swim the 100m butterfly in under 56 seconds, which still stands as the fastest time ever recorded by an American. She made her most recent Olympic appearance in Rio de Janeiro after having her first child, and is affectionately known today as the “Momma on a Mission.” In addition to earning seven Olympic medals, she has also earned sixteen world championship medals over the course of her career.
3. What’s left in Smith and Dressel’s tank
Caeleb Dressel became the first swimmer to ever win eight medals in a single World Championships. His biggest highlight of the week was when he broke the world record in the 100 fly in the semifinals on day six to lower Michael Phelps’ 10-year-old record. Dressel also broke American records in the 50 and 100 free as well as the 50 fly. He also led off the mixed 4×100 free relay that broke a world record in the final.
- Gold – 4×100 Free Relay
- Gold – 50 Fly
- Gold – 100 Free
- Gold – 50 Free
- Gold – 100 Fly (WR in semifinals)
- Gold – Mixed 4×100 Free Relay
- Silver – Mixed 4×100 Medley Relay
- Silver – 4×100 Medley Relay
So going from that kind of a performance directly to nationals the following week could provide a wide range of things to expect. Michael Phelps once set a world record at the World Championships and re-broke it a week later at nationals. Will Dressel do the same?
Meanwhile, 17-year-old Regan Smith broke two world records at worlds in stunning fashion. Is this a victory lap for her or will she challenge those marks for a second straight week?
4. Fast Flickinger, but how fast?
Hali Flickinger was hoping for gold in Gwangju, but settled for the silver medal in the 200 fly. It was disappointing and could be a motivating factor for her heading into nationals, where she is slated to compete in several events. Sometimes the best triumphs come out of disappointment. Her USA teammate Katie Drabot took the bronze and will also compete at nationals.
5. Who will the new champs be?
Just about every national championship meet sees at least one new winner. Usually in a meet sequence like this one, right after worlds, there are more first-time winners. Who will they be? Michigan Lakeshore Aquatic’s Devon Nowicki is the top seed in the 100 breast and Sean Grieshop is the top seed in the 400 IM. Teen sensation Luca Urlando is the top seed in the 200 fly. Dean Farris is coming off of a spectacular NCAA championships. Will that success transfer into long course? Jack Levant was at worlds and could challenge for a couple of titles. On the women’s side, Kaersten Meitz has the top seed in the 400 free.
Check out meet and ticket info here.
Love Dana!!!